Motion Picture Herald (1953)

101 BEST EXPLOITATION AIDS Something for the Boys and Girls ^ Willis Shaffer comes up with a prize-winning T y campaign from the new Fox theatre, at Hutch 1 inson, Kansas, on "Something for the Birds" — 1 that he built around a tricky advertising slogan: "Something for the Boys," "Something for the Girls," "Something for the Birds" — which presents a combination of good exploitation ideas that can be repeated endlessly. "Something for the Girls" was a sponsored fashion show on stage, with extraordinary support from a local store. The models, all local girls, paraded in and out of a colossal wire bird cage, to win gift dresses as prizes, and the boys were judges. "Something for the Boys" was a Navy Show, on stage and in the theatre foyer and lobby, with the cooperation of the Hutchinson Naval Reserve. All the boys taking part were in Navy uniform, as well as all the theatre staff, and there were prizes for the best, with the girls as judges! The stage show consisted of Navy stunts, with various Navy apparatus and equipment, demonstrated and used as in actual training. The advertising theme of "Something for the Birds" was used as window display at the cooperating store, and as street ballyhoo. Of course, the historic example in this category is J. P. Harrison's prize promotion in Denton, Texas, when 100 college girls, and 100 men from a nearby Army airfield, all selected by their own authorities to compete, attended a special preview at the Campus theatre, meeting for the first time for "The Mating Season." Let's Look Back At Ballyhoo ^ Warner Brothers' new picture In three dimen T J sions of vision, sound and color, "The House of 1 ^ Wax"' — which. Incidentally, is the first 3-D pic 1 ture to make us forget to fiddle and fumble with our glasses (It was that good!) — also provided some thoughts about ballyhoo, going all the way back to the turn of the century. In "The House of Wax" we see a typical wax museum, such as were known In those days as off-the-street attractions, with sidewalk ballyhoo and other showmanship devices to draw the patrons past the ticket window. And, apparently. In 1900, they seemed to know some tricks that have been forgotten since. What we liked particularly, was the barker, dressed in silk hat and Iverness cloak, who paraded up and down in front of the box office, and used a three-dimensional gadget to attract attention. It was an old device, popular fifty years ago, like a ping-pong paddle, with a rubber ball attached to a rubber string, so he could bat it out, cause It to gently hit passers-by, and bounce back. When you see the picture (and you must!) then note how this sidewalk barker kept these gadgets working. And we're happy to note, on our desk today, one of those very gadgets, from Warner Brothers, a sample of a "Fli-Back" paddle, manufactured by the FlI-Back Co., High Point, N. C. (free adv.), which we hope will blanket America as a new (old) toy, quite In keeping with threedimensional showmanship. Try Underselling Our Experiments ^ j Pierce McCoy's good handling of "Bwana 1 VI Devil" at the Miller theatre in Augusta, Ga., 1 reported last week in the Round Table, is suffl 1 1 dent to prompt good managers generally to go easy in offering new devices to the public with overpraise and too many glowing adjectives. Pierce was smart enough to sell them the idea, and the reason why they were wearing poloroid glasses, without making it appear that this method was a replacement of motion pictures as they've been known, and liked, at the Miller theatre, these many years. He kept his balance. With several kinds of new things crowding the market, including new kinds of television, it's a good idea to step down the exaggeration and step up the salesmanship of motion pictures as your best entertainment. Take pains to tell and sell your public on the permanent qualify of motion pictures and your theatre, where they may look for and expect to see every new thing, on a proper basis of evaluation. If you oversell a device that is apt to exceed Itself within a few weeks or months, then you find yourself lacking in words of explanation, and in fhe confidence of your patronage. This is the time, more than ever before, when managers should contact their newspaper friends, get on their feet at Rotary Club meetings, with the American Legion, and other groups of opinion makers In your community, and talk to them, on a man-to-man basis. Get In the Swing With the Spring ^ Seymour Morris, in his "Reel News " from T Schine's publicity department at Gloversville, 1 A and others of his capacity and competence in 1 circuit positions throughout the country, are preparing their managers for the necessary Spring tonic, which must be taken internally and externally, by both theatre and theatre manager, to keep up with things, this year. You will even have to send your old Ideas out to fhe cleaners! Theatre housekeeping prompts the original premise in keeping with the policy of good housewives. In their own homes. Mother brings the family to the movies, and Mother Is the first to notice that you've done your Spring housecleaning. It's the best kind of advertising, and a convincing test of management. Spring brings new competition, with outdoor events and activities moving in to take part of your patronage. But It has its benefifs, as well, for folks who have been tied to their' living rooms and television sets will now wish they could go out more often, to the movies. Technical faults and atmospheric conditions push electronic entertainment off the air in the summer months, and you can make hay, at the box office. That is, unless you suffer a relapse yourself, and Spring fever sets In. This Is a good time to hold a theatre staff meeting, if you've never done so, and alert all hands to the grim necessity of telling and selling the public about your service to the public. 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 25, 1953